I’ve been around horses since I was about 6 (I’m 18 now) and I took dressage and jumping lessons until I was about 12. I used to own my own horse, but school tuition had to take precedence so I had to say goodbye to darling Skittles and riding lessons. Now I work for/am on the board of a therapeutic riding program. I ride our therapy horses and every once in a blue moon ride them in a schooling show. I’ll be in college next year and plan to be on the riding team so I’ll be back into serious competition. Eventually, I’d like to get into eventing (and when that time comes I'll get a proper eventing coach and whatnot), so I’ve been trying to educate myself on all things eventing. The internet and books are good for a majority of information, but there are just some questions which I cant seem to find the answers to (or rather, the answers are out there screaming “CLICK HERE STUPID!” and I just haven’t seen them yet).
Some of these questions are going to sound a bit silly, but I can only learn by asking, right? Try not to laugh too hard at my ignorance ;]
Are XC colors necessary? (Not saying I don’t want them, but just out of curiosity are you required to have your own colors? Are you required to register those colors at events?)
Are Tipperarys proper vests for XC?
Are field boots necessary for XC? Or can I wear paddock boots and half chaps? Are just paddock boots okay?
Do you use boots on your horse? What sort? (The therapy horses I work with never have any need for boots- we do mostly dressage, trail riding, and occasionally school some low jumps so the world of boots is foreign to me- I’ve discovered there’s a dizzying amount of different sorts of boots on the market…) What sort of boots do most eventing horses wear?
Are you allowed to have a color coordinated browband? (I’m not talking anything excessively *blingy* like a diamante browband, I’m thinking more along the lines of a browband wrapped in ribbon to match our colors)
Is the A,B,C,D format still in use? (I can’t find a source that’s clear on this matter) What’s that like compared to events which are “just” cross country? What are the individual phases like?
Do I wear a vest during the stadium phase?
I know Prelim and CCI* are equivalents to each other, but is there a difference between events advertised as “Preliminary” and FEI sanctioned “CCI*” events? Once I’m qualified to compete Prelim, am I automatically qualified to compete CCI*?
(Stupid Question Alert!) Does eventing go all year round? I mean, obviously in the winter (I’m in Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago, so we have a pretty substantial winter) you can go south but what I’m really asking is does eventing go all seasons? Is there winter eventing? (That just sounds dangerous...)
How many times per year do most people event? What’s the average most (fit and sound) horses can handle without putting excess strain on them? (I don’t plan on doing an intense amount of eventing because I have plenty of other things I want us to try, but I am curious.)
What are the entry fees and other fees like? How much could one expect to pay in fees alone for a given event?
What is the difference between “Trials” and “Events”?
Are you a member of the USEA, USEF, USDF, USHJA, or FEI? (wow that’s a lot of acronyms in one sentence!) All of them? Just one? Which ones are required for most events? Which ones do you recommend joining?
What levels of dressage coincide with the levels of eventing?
What are the real differences between levels? How much of a difference is there on the strain of the horse? Is there a big leap between each or is it a pretty smooth transition?
Whats the real difference between CIC and CCI? Is CIC* the equavilent of prelim like CCI* is?
At what level in eventing would I need dress boots instead of field boots for dressage?
SaddleTite- do you use it? Does it ruin the seat of your saddle?
Thanks for taking the time to answer!
~Ashleigh
Some of these questions are going to sound a bit silly, but I can only learn by asking, right? Try not to laugh too hard at my ignorance ;]
Are XC colors necessary? (Not saying I don’t want them, but just out of curiosity are you required to have your own colors? Are you required to register those colors at events?)
Are Tipperarys proper vests for XC?
Are field boots necessary for XC? Or can I wear paddock boots and half chaps? Are just paddock boots okay?
Do you use boots on your horse? What sort? (The therapy horses I work with never have any need for boots- we do mostly dressage, trail riding, and occasionally school some low jumps so the world of boots is foreign to me- I’ve discovered there’s a dizzying amount of different sorts of boots on the market…) What sort of boots do most eventing horses wear?
Are you allowed to have a color coordinated browband? (I’m not talking anything excessively *blingy* like a diamante browband, I’m thinking more along the lines of a browband wrapped in ribbon to match our colors)
Is the A,B,C,D format still in use? (I can’t find a source that’s clear on this matter) What’s that like compared to events which are “just” cross country? What are the individual phases like?
Do I wear a vest during the stadium phase?
I know Prelim and CCI* are equivalents to each other, but is there a difference between events advertised as “Preliminary” and FEI sanctioned “CCI*” events? Once I’m qualified to compete Prelim, am I automatically qualified to compete CCI*?
(Stupid Question Alert!) Does eventing go all year round? I mean, obviously in the winter (I’m in Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago, so we have a pretty substantial winter) you can go south but what I’m really asking is does eventing go all seasons? Is there winter eventing? (That just sounds dangerous...)
How many times per year do most people event? What’s the average most (fit and sound) horses can handle without putting excess strain on them? (I don’t plan on doing an intense amount of eventing because I have plenty of other things I want us to try, but I am curious.)
What are the entry fees and other fees like? How much could one expect to pay in fees alone for a given event?
What is the difference between “Trials” and “Events”?
Are you a member of the USEA, USEF, USDF, USHJA, or FEI? (wow that’s a lot of acronyms in one sentence!) All of them? Just one? Which ones are required for most events? Which ones do you recommend joining?
What levels of dressage coincide with the levels of eventing?
What are the real differences between levels? How much of a difference is there on the strain of the horse? Is there a big leap between each or is it a pretty smooth transition?
Whats the real difference between CIC and CCI? Is CIC* the equavilent of prelim like CCI* is?
At what level in eventing would I need dress boots instead of field boots for dressage?
SaddleTite- do you use it? Does it ruin the seat of your saddle?
Thanks for taking the time to answer!
~Ashleigh